SENATOBIA – It was never in doubt on Tuesday evening when the Northwest Mississippi Community College men's soccer team picked up their first win of the season, downing Dyersburg State Community College (0-1) in an 8-0 runaway victory at the Ranger Soccer Field, picking up the first win for Head Coach Windham Whatley in his coaching.
The win was one that took a big weight off of the team, and plenty of individuals were able to contribute.
"You could kind of feel it in the house, the anxiousness and frustration of being in every game. It might be different if you lose one, win one, but every game we had played was a draw, so to finally get over that hump, I think it sets the boys free, gives them some freedom now."
The Rangers got on the board early when Bolu Owoyemi finished a cross from Giovani Salinas in the fifth minute in what was a prelude to one of the best games a Ranger has had, producing four goals and an assist to tie the program record of four, last set by Dylan Castoria against Jones College on September 25, 2010.
Osvaldo Macias added a second goal in the 19th minute on a deflection that fell to his feet, and one more goal in the first half came from Owoyemi when he found the back of the net on a rebound with less than a minute remaining in the first half.
Half two was the Owoyemi show early, with the freshman from England scoring just over five minutes into the second half on a beautiful cross from Wyatt Sharp, finishing it for a 4-0 lead and a hat-trick to boot.
He would do it one more time in the 72nd minute when he found himself one-on-one with the goalie and finished from inside the six-yard box.
The floodgates opened after that, producing another three goals from three different players.
It started with a pass back from Owoyemi to a finish by Joseph Jackson to make it 6-0 in the 77th minute. Another from Jaylen Grey was finished on a cross by Audon Sammons in the 86th minute and the final goal would come from Salinas on a pass from Wesley Kilpatrick, closing the game with a final goal with just 20 seconds left.
The whole team felt a relief with the flood of goal, but William Wood said it was a big result of being open to adjusting things.
"We have kept tying, so we knew it wasn't working, so we switched the system up, did a little bit of a different shape, and put it in the game, and it worked perfectly."
Whatley added that the focus on detail was there during days leading up to it.
"The boys deserve it with what they did today and the preparations. I'm happy to see us do it, but also to do it the way we did it. Not only with JB doing his thing, but also with them taking the stuff we have worked on and implementing it and getting a few different goal scorers on the stat sheet."
The win is the first for the Rangers of the season and came in dominant fashion, not allowing a goal and only giving up one shot in the entire game to the Eagles. It was the first collegiate clean sheet for TJay Gibb, as the freshman from Scotland has only allowed one goal in the opening two games of his career.
Wood said the defense was aided by an aggressive front group and their attacking pressure.
"The back four were superb today, but most of it came from up top and the front five. They pressed and pressed and pressed, and because of that, they didn't even have a chance to counter. That's what made it a day."
It was also the first 8-0 win by the Rangers since the season opening in 2016 against Copiah-Lincoln, and just the sixth time in program history they have won by that mark, matching the biggest goal difference in program history.
Northwest will now move on to face Allen County Community College (0-0) and Kansas City Kansas Community College (1-0) as part of the St. Louis Showcase, with kickoff of Friday afternoon's game at 4:00 PM, and a second game on Sunday at 1:00 PM.
Whatley said they will need to continue to focus on the little things, good and bad, as the competition continues to get better.
"We have to rest, but also we need to show them where we were successful and push on that, while showing them the few mistakes that today didn't cost us, but have in preseason games."
Follow along with more from Ranger athletics by visiting nwccrangers.com or by checking out Northwest social media accounts.
